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Rex Midwestus

People in the two coastal wings of the country seem to enjoy disparaging those of us who live in the center. They mock the region's relative flatness, its openness, the general kindness of the population -- but let's face it, those people are dolts. The Midwest uses all that open terrain to grow the food that feeds the rest of the country, and the openness and our kindness makes us welcoming to strangers. Is it any wonder some of America's greatest artists found inspiration in the heartland. (They don't call it that for nothin')? Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield have spent considerable time and money building an estimable collection of art depicting the sights of the Midwest -- and now you're invited to view it (there's that kindness again). No Place Like Home: American Scene Painting in the Sinquefield Collection, the new exhibition at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art (3663 Lindell Boulevard; 314-977-2666 or sluma.slu.edu), features John Rogers Cox's stark agrarian landscapes, Joe Jones' lush paintings of farmers and steamships at work, and even a self portrait by the dean of Missouri painters, Thomas Hart Benton. No Place Like Home opens with a free public reception at 6 p.m. Friday, November 15, and the show remains up through Sunday, February 2, 2014. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, and admission is free.
Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Nov. 15. Continues through Feb. 2, 2013